This invention relates in general to vehicle seats, and in particular to a seat assembly having movable panels for creating a horizontal load floor.
Larger passenger vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles and vans, typically include a relatively flat load floor at the rear of the vehicle which is accessible through a rear lift gate or door. The load floor is generally the upper surface of the floor of the vehicle. Typically, the floor of the vehicle is stepped downward in front of the load floor to create a secondary floor which is lower than the load floor. A second row of seats is commonly mounted on this secondary floor.
It is known to provide a second row seat which is movable to a forward position to expand the rear cargo area of the vehicle. The second row seat includes a seat back pivotally mounted on a seat bottom. The seat back is movable to a collapsed position wherein the seat back is rotated forward until the front surface of the seat back rests on the upper surface of the seat bottom. The seat bottom is pivotally mounted on the floor about a pivot generally located at the front lower portion of the seat bottom. After collapsing of the seat back, the seat bottom and the seat back are rotated as a single unit about the pivot about 90 degrees to a forward position. In the forward position, the seat back and the seat bottom are generally in a vertically oriented position. This orientation provides accessibility to the floor which was directly underneath the seat bottom when in its seating position. Although the movement of the second row seat is generally desirable to expand the rear cargo area, the stepped configuration of the secondary floor and the rear load floor is sometimes problematic when loading and unloading cargo thereon.
This invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly having structures to form a generally flat horizontal load floor preferably co-planar with a rear cargo floor of the vehicle. The seat assembly includes a seat bottom and at least one panel movably attached to the seat bottom. The panel is movable between a storage position adjacent the seat bottom, and a deployed position extending outwardly from the seat bottom such that the panel is in a generally horizontal position to form a flat load floor above the vehicle floor.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.